Musings from Douglas J. McLeod, the author of the "Gary Celdom Case Journals" series, and his pen names: C.D. Melley, romance and poetry writer, and Crimson Nuage, author of the "Fiery Freedom" series.

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Teaser Tuesday: Scarlet Siege - How it all started

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so taking a page from one of my author friends, I decided to start a new feature here at CeldoMelley.com. On Tuesdays, I will attempt to post a few lines from a current or previous work of mine. Hopefully, this will give my new fans a chance to see what ideas have sprung from my multi-faceted noggin.

For my first edition of "Teaser Tuesday", it ties into a special announcement I made a couple days ago. In case you missed it, this past Sunday, during an author takeover, I made the official declaration of the release date for the long awaited fourth book in my Gary Celdom Case Journals series. (Which I also announced in a somewhat cryptic blog post right here.) Since Gary has been a character which has been with be since the very beginning (and, those who know me know he's been around longer than that), I decided to share a snippet from his first published adventure, Scarlet Siege. (For paperback lovers, the book is the first half on my 2-in-1 title, Gary Celdom Case Journals: Volume One.)

In his debut, Gary attends a fan convention for his favorite television series. At the convention, he reconnects with his writer friend, Phil Bennett. Things seem to go smoothly at the event until a few attendees take umbrage to the fact their favorite actor from the show has decided not to attend the event again, and demand satisfaction in a rather violent way.

*****

Felicia
smugly turned to Shawn and Jake. “So, guys, since you nowknow what we three are capable of, is
there any way you could see thatCal
makes
his way to this hotel posthaste?”

“Pardon my language,” I
whispered, “but, how the hell did they geta shovel in hereundetected?”

“It’s an item in the Scavenger Hunt,” Natalieexplained.

“They
hold it every convention,” Phil added. “All the items
are relatedto various episodes throughout the run of the show. I just didn’t think
anyof the items would ever be used
as a murderweapon.”

The rest of the attendees -- who had just witnessed Edmunds’
death --sat
in stunned and terrified silence. In the eerie calm, I slipped my cellphone out of my pocket, and quietly sent
a text to the one person I thoughtcould
possibly help not just myself, but everyone else who were inthis lockdown. “Jessica,” I typed,
“we have asituation.”